`On the road to Damascus´: fuzzy logic and management practice

We are in a post modern era, characterised by an increasing awareness of the complex interdependence of our social and physical worlds, and by a diminishing faith in traditional science. Organisational management practice is filled with paradox but Aristotelian logic sets boundaries on the possible choices for action which a manager may make without stepping across the limits of approved rationality. Management literature describes a number of different characteristics which combine to make a `good´ or `effective´ manager. Fuzziness, is not listed. However, `fuzzy logic´ is inherent in contemporary management models. This paper proposes that a fuzzy logic framework can create options for managers which will confront the paradox inherent in management practice and, furthermore, it can enrich the process of improvement